“Smith has crafted a solid social history that helps us think beyond Edward S. Curtis’s nostalgic salvaging process. . . . This book usefully follows [Smith’s] methodology, continually engaging and explaining Poolaw’s doubled life, providing a sense of contemporary social pressure as well as long-standing tribal values.”—Katherine Hauser, Great Plains Quarterly
"Horace Poolaw's photography provides an important historical look at Kiowa life in the early twentieth century because he captured daily life as it happened. Horace Poolaw: Photographer of American Indian Modernity benefits from the ample inclusion of Poolaw photographs throughout."—Jared Eberle, Chronicles of Oklahoma
“Horace Poolaw was a . . . talented photographer whose work has gone largely unnoticed by mainstream art and photographic historians. Laura Smith does an excellent job of placing Poolaw’s work within a historical and cultural context and makes a convincing argument that these photographs reflect a conscious effort by Poolaw to understand and communicate a shifting Native American identity.”—Todd Stewart, associate professor of art, technology, and culture at the University of Oklahoma
“Poolaw’s photographs, and Smith’s narration of where they fit in the Kiowa story, impart a welcome perspective on Kiowa history and culture. Smith powerfully illustrates how, when viewed through the eyes of Poolaw, Kiowa people—like other Americans—are actively negotiating present and future identities in a rapidly globalizing world.”—Luke Eric Lassiter, author of The Power of Kiowa Song
"Horace Poolaw: Photographer of American Indian Identity is a fascinating profile of the life and times of a photographer whose work has been largely overlooked by mainstream art and photographic historians."—Marilyn Gates, New York Journal of Books
